Then place a plate or pan on top of the butter, flip it over, and run the pan wells under hot water for a few seconds.

Earlier this week we talked about giving your guests individual dishes of butter for a fancy brunch or breakfast. Here's a quick look at how to create little molded pats of butter — it's a tiny, extra-fancy detail, but sometimes we just delight in silly things like these!

It's really simple to make these. All you need is some softened butter (we prefer homemade or unsalted butter) and something to mold it. We use this little pan, which we also use for baking mini-mini cupcakes (it's great for using up the last little bit of cake batter — you know, the last scoop that just won't fit in the cupcake papers!). You could also use silicone ice cube trays or mini muffin pans. Candy molds would work well too.

What You Need

IngredientsUnsalted butterSalt (optional)

EquipmentSmall mold or mini-muffin panSpatula

Instructions

1. Start with a small mold and very soft, unsalted butter.

2. Fill the molds with softened butter, using a spatula to work it in. Try to make sure there aren't any air pockets between the butter and the pan.

3. Freeze the butter for about 1/2 an hour (it freezes quickly) or longer. It should be quite firm.

4. Then place a plate or pan on top of the butter, flip it over, and run the pan wells under hot water for a few seconds.

5. Flip the whole thing over and you should see that the butter pats have fallen out. Easy!

At this point we like to sprinkle the pats with just a little flaky sea salt. You can refrigerate them in a closed container until you need them.

You could also of course use this method to mold just one big star, bunny, Christmas tree, or anything else you would like to adorn your holiday table. Have fun!

And, like we said, this is of course a tiny, insignificant little detail for a dinner party table; it's rather silly, really, But aren't those details sometimes half the fun of throwing a party?

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Faith is the executive editor of The Kitchn and the author of three cookbooks. They include The Kitchn Cookbook, coauthored with Sara Kate Gillingham, as well as Bakeless Sweets. She lives in Columbus, Ohio with her husband Mike.